


A Little Bit Of Magic

by Farnsworth1



Series: A Recipe For Love [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: BAMF Bilbo Baggins, BAMF Harry, F/M, Female Bilbo Baggins, Female Harry, Harry is a Hobbit, I Don't Even Know, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2020-02-26 19:22:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18723361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Farnsworth1/pseuds/Farnsworth1
Summary: Belladonna lost her ability to bare children on one of Gandalf's adventures. So when a little girl from another world was offered to her and Bungo as their own of course she said yes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is that story that I really wanted to read. So apparently I'm writing it now. I don't even know what I'm doing. It's just me trying to figure out how to write so bare with me.

Belladonna was seriously injured on her last adventure with Gandalf. It took most of Lord Elrond’s considerable skill to save her life, but unfortunately not even he could save her ability to bare a child. Heartbroken at the news, Belladonna returned to the shire resigned to the fact that she would most likely never marry. No hobbit no matter how strange would willingly take a barren wife, particularly if said wife was an adventurous Took. Children were too important to the hobbits, especially after the wandering years. And while the Tooks were well know for their enviable fertility, Belladonna herself had 15 brother and sisters, their willingness to leave the shire was not apricated by most of the respectable hobbits. Their fertility was one of the few reasons that Tooks were included in polite society. Now she would just be a barren menace to the shire.

Bungo Baggins was one of Belladonnas great friends as a faunt. He had known early on that Belladonna was the love of his life and if he could he would make her his. So when word got out that she was back in the shire to stay, Bungo headed straight over to go begin his courting before anyone else could lay claim to his one true love. He’d been building the most beautiful smial while she was away, in hopes that it would help convince her of his love. It radiated comfort and feelings of home in the best way possible. Now he just had to get her to say yes.

When she first rejected him, he was crushed, sure that she had found someone else, but when she went on to reject everyone else who would approach he realized something must have happened to her on her adventures. Heartened by that idea he decided to try again determined that no matter what had happened she was still the one his soul called out too and he would not turn away from that call. This time he decided to work up to love declarations rather than starting with them. He got her to tell him about all that she had seen and done, all of the people she had met, and eventually she told him about that fateful accident. 

When she finally had the courage to tell her dear friend Bungo about what the cost of her adventures was, she was sure that he would turn his back on her and go find a more suitable hobbit lass to spend his time with. To her great surprise he did not seek another. In fact he became even more earnest in his efforts to court her, showing up every day with flowers, taking her for walks every night. Eventually he took her so a new smial. When he told her that he had built it for their family, she nearly broke, but then he said that even if he could fill this home with another’s children it would forever remain empty in his heart. Any life without her in it was no life he wanted to live. They were married by the end of the month.

In another world a family was betrayed by one they called friend.

Lord Voldemort chose to sneak into the child’s room rather than going through the front door. A quiet curse and a flash of green and the only obstacle to his ultimate rule was gone. Or so he thought. What he hadn’t counted on was the complete devastation a mother who just lost her child could cause. From that moment on the Potters actively went about destroying him at every turn with little to no concern for their own wellbeing. He would never fulfill his dreams of changing the world (for better or worse the world will never know) as the Potters dove into his past and found his deepest secret and went on to destroy his every hope for achieving immortality. 

20 years after that fateful night Lord Voldemort was vanquished and the Potters were finally able to make peace with their daughters passing. While there was no hope of bringing her back, they could only plead with any god who was listening that their little girl would be spared from a world of heartbreak. They hoped by giving her up she would end up in a better world then theirs, so they pleaded to please be merciful to their baby. Let her have a second chance at life even if it wasn’t with them. So great was their devotion that the Green Lady heard and accepted their choice. She knew just the couple who could love this little girl as much as her parents had, and she in turn would bless their lives and possibly all of the people in middle earth while she was at it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Belladonna and Bungo Baggins were awoken late one spring night by a sudden loud crying. Neither know what was going on for the moments it took their half asleep minds to recognize the crying was coming from a baby. Suddenly they were both flying out of their bed and dashing towards the source of the sound. There on the rug near the dying embers was a small baby hobbit, possibly a year old judging by it’s size.  
Belladonna rushed to pick up the screaming babe while Bungo inspected a note learning up against a large pile of books in an unrecognizable language. The note in question was from the Goddess Yavanna. And if getting a note from The Green Lady wasn’t strange enough, the contents of said note were even more so. The little girl, named Heather, had been cursed in her other world. As a blessing to her original parents she was taken from the awful life she was destined for. She was allowed to keep her magical heritage from them, but was changed into a hobbit to better fit into this world and possibly even change it for the better. She was to be given to a deserving couple who would raise her to be all that she could be and most importantly with all the love she deserved, if they, the Baggins’ felt they couldn’t fulfill that role themselves.  
Of course they were taken aback that they were considered worth of the great responsibility of this child. They got the babe to sleep, and then sat down to seriously discus what it meant to accept Heather as their daughter. And they had already accepted her as such, but realties had to be discussed. How did someone raise a child with magic? It had been hundreds of years since hobbits had been blessed with such a gift. And this would most likely be a unique magic judging from the look of the books they had received. Would she be content in the shire? Would she be welcome in the shire? What would they do if she wasn’t welcome? And the questions kept on coming, very few with ready answers. When the sky was just starting to lighten a few things had been decided.  
1\. Heather was theirs no matter what.  
2\. If she wasn’t not welcome in the shire they would leave. (Bungo was not thrilled with this but would do it for his daughter)  
3\. Letters to the Elves and Gandalf would need to be sent out to see if either would be able to help guide their daughter in her magic.  
4\. Their lives would never be the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's short but I really don't know what I'm doing guys. So if this story isn't flowing like the way I think it is I'm sorry. Also I'm not really editing much so there's that. Anyways thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

The 10 years that followed were the happiest of Belladonna and Bungo’s lives. They were also some of the hardest as well. While their little Hari grew the same as other hobbit children did, they weren’t sure what to expect from her magical heritage and for the first several months nothing seemed to be happening. Their first glimpse of her magic was when Bungo watched some of Hari’s toys float across the room to her waiting arms. From there things were often found in different places then were they were left. Usually the cookie jar could be seen floating down the hall towards Hari’s room after dinner. 

The next big magic they saw from their daughter was her making certain things disappear, like unwanted vegetables she was supposed to finish before she could leave the table. Or at least they thought they were disappearing at first. When they took a closer look it turns Hari was shrinking them down, so it was less noticeable when she didn’t eat them. 

But the most memorable and life impacting was Hari’s healing abilities. It started out small and only on herself. A scrape or small cut gone before anyone could do anything for it, or bruises that were there one day and gone the next. As she grew and started learning to control her magic a bit more Hari was able to heal others, even though it left her rather drained afterwards. A scrape on Drogo’s knee when he fell down an hill, or a small puncture from troublesome weed Hamfast was fighting with, though both would saw it felt bigger then healing just the small injury. It wasn’t until Belladonna cut her finger that she realized just how much magic her daughter was actually using while fixing those small scrapes, and cuts. 

Belladonna had been prepping dinner but her knife had slipped when Hari had ran into her when checking on dinner. When Hari saw her mother was hurt, she placed her hands near her mothers cut and closed her eyes. Belladonna noticed an immediate tingling that went through her whole body and the next moment any pain she felt was gone. When Hari finally let go, Belladonna looked at her previously cut finger, but the only thing there was a faint line, no cut, no scar. In fact both of her hands were now scar free, with only those faint lines in their place. 

Trying not to worry to much about what just happened she thanked her daughter with a hug and kiss and sent her on her way with a small snack. It wasn’t until that evening when Belladonna was getting ready for bed that she realized all of her scars had changed to become those faint lines, including the one across her abdomen. Amazed at her daughters abilities both Belladonna and Bungo went about their lives as they always had not realizing how much had changed in those few moments. A few months latter they realized just how strong Hari’s healing abilities were. That spring Hari got a baby sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy the update. Let me know what you all think. I didn't really expect anyone else would like this story, so it's been pretty exciting to see all the interest it's received. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i realized that my chapters were out of order and had multiples. Oops... I think i've fixed it now so hopefully there won't be anymore problems like that.

As Hari grew she proved to have an almost unnatural inclination for language. After havening learned Westron 4 years before any of the other fauntlings her age, Bungo to try teaching her to read and write it early as well. While it took her longer to write, she was still rather young to be learning such things, she mastered reading within a year. And from that point on Hari was reading everything she could get her hands on. When she found one of her father’s books in Sindrin Hari asked to be taught that as well. Soon she was speaking Sindrin better than even Belladonna, who was considered the expert in the shire, and was reading it as easily as she could Westron. 

Before Hari started reading, Bungo had considered his library quite large and diverse. But having a daughter who had read his entire selection well before her tweens made him see just how lacking it was for her skill level. So he was always the lookout for new works from different cultures and in as many different languages he could find to test her abilities. His library nearly tripled by the time Hari reached her majority.

He also took her on visit’s to the Thain so they could use his library to continue Hari’s studies. With access to the shire’s largest library Hari was able to learn all the different dialects of man, and elvish. They even found a few books in Ancient Khuzdul that Hari used to teach herself the basics with but was unable to become fluent in the more modern version spoken by dwarven currently. When Belladonna found out, she impressed on her daughter how it was considered a secret and almost sacred language and not to use it around others. Dwarfs were notorious for jealously guarding their secrets and would not like that she had learned one of their secrets. 

But probably the most impressive display of her language skills was when she started translating the strange books that came with her. She was even able to learn to speak the language from just the texts alone. Apparently the Green Lady had chosen to bless Hari with a chance to learn her original language and the magic from that world. When Gandalf finally arrived and read some of her translated works, he was quite impressed with the variety of magic Hari could possibly do. It looked to be a combination of Istari and Elvin magic, and he encouraged them to allow their daughter a chance to train under the elves if not soon then after she had reached her majority. 

As Gandalf began training Hari in controlling her magic he encouraged her to learn all the different branches. Her younger sister Bellerose was already showing signs of magic similar to hers, and with his other wizard duties Hari would undoubtedly be the one to teach Belle. When he told her as much, Hari redoubled her efforts to learn all the different types of magic, knowing that Belle was already so different from her and that her magical preferences would probably be different as well. She already loved her sister dearly and was determined to be the best teacher Belle could ask for.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I’ve been writing this on my phone and late one night after a getting through a writers block I accidentally deleted everything I’d written up to that point. Needless to say it’s taken me a while to go back and start rewriting everything. I apoligize if the story has a different tone from here on out. I don’t remember it having as much angst as it does now, although I was able to hold most of it off until the last few chapters. Anyways enjoy!

If Bungo and Belladonna though having one daughter with magic was hard, having two seemed almost overwhelming. They were grateful when Gandalf increased his visits to almost every year, helping guide Hari and Belle in their studies of magic and control. He wasn’t able to stay for more than a week or two. When he was there he was constantly testing them on what they had learned, or teaching them something new. He would give them a list of things to work on and a new things to learn or study.   
   
Even with his guidance or perhaps in-spite of it, the girls still got up to a lot of mischief. No one would ever be able to prove it, but the Baggins girls were the most infamous pie thieves in all the shire. For several years no pie was safe to cool by open windows. Poor farmer Maggot farm got the worst of the thievery for a year before Belle’s magic really took effect.  
   
There were other issues that came up over the years, especially when Belle was picked on. You could bet your family recipes that if anyone messed with Hari’s younger sister strange things would happen and they would have to apologize to Belle before Hari removed whatever magic, whether an accident or on purpose, had taken hold.   
   
One of the Proudfoot boys had his hair turned pink after pushing Belle into a mud puddle. A Brandybuck girl who would pull Belle’s Golden locks any chance she could, found her favorite stuffed animal turned into a giant spider.   
   
The worst offender would have to be Lobelia. She was a constant annoyance to Hari, always tattling on any little misstep social or otherwise. She was also a full on bully to Belle, calling her the worst names and doing everything she could to make her cry. So of course Lobelia would have the most strange things happen to her. Or more accurately her favorite dresses. If they weren’t catching and tearing on the most random of things, they were shrinking inanely small in the wash.  
   
While the girls did pull several pranks with their magic, they were more interested in crafting magical items. One of their first successful items was a bead (they were learning about dwarf culture and found their beads fascinating) that would make anything thrown at you miss. Needless to say the testing period for it allowed Hari to get really good a healing small cuts and bruises. It took them finally figuring out certain types of wood accepted the magic in different ways. After finding one that worked best they spent several weeks testing it. When their mother came upon one of their testing sessions, they swore her telling off could be heard all the way in Rivendell. They were much more careful of testing their products after that.

When Hari had read about magical items, two stood out. One was a bag that could hold an infinite amount of items while only weighing little more than a small bag of coins. The other was a cloak that would render the wearer invisible. Both held great promise for the young mischief makers. But actually making them turned out the longest project they ever took on. 

After the first year they realized that using pre-made fabric wouldn’t hold enough magic nor would what little magic it could hold last for more than a few days. So they started to learn weaving. That produced more lasting results but still not what they were looking for. They were never able to make a cloak turn them invisible but they were able to make one that allowed them to blend into their surroundings almost seamlessly. As for the bag they couldn’t seem to get the two different types of magic to stick at the same time. They ended up with several different bags, ones that could more items but you would feel the weight, and ones that were very light but not hold more than it’s original size. 

Knowing they were at a standstill until they could learn more about magical fabric was disheartening. Hari suspected the elves might know a thing or two about it and was already working on a plan to go spend several years learning from them. They still held out hope they would eventually reach their original goals for these projects.


	6. Chapter 6

Belle’s magical training was a little different from Hari’s. While Hari’s magic was more attuned with healing and protection, Belle’s magic manifested more in growing things and healing earth and trees. It even extended to her cooking. No one was a better cook the Belle Baggins. 

So after their big projects drew to a standstill Hari suggested they test Belle’s magical limits. She was already adept maintaining even the most demanding plants and herbs with ease. So they moved onto their personal garden seeing how big she could get her fruits and vegetables to grow. Next they tested how far Belle’s magic could reach and if it would weaken her efforts the larger the area she tried to cultivate. 

What they found was with a lot of effort, Belle could affect over half of the shire from Bag End. Those crops affected grew twice as well, had a noticeable improvement in flavor, and grew almost three times the amount of produce. The only major draw back was she had to apply her magic daily and doing so continuously over the growing season would almost completely exhaust her magic. Hari was optimistic that as Belle reached her majority she would be able to maintain the entire shire without tiring herself out.

The harvest festival was that year was the most prosperous it’s ever been, and everyone was sure those Baggins girls had something to do with it. While they were grateful it was one more thing that set them apart from everyone else.

After that year Belle and Hari decided to switch gears and test some magical recipes they found in Hari’s library. Very early on they realized that even though they were both excellent cooks, they were Baggins’ after all, Belle had a natural inclination for potion making that just couldn’t be taught.

Remembering what happened last time they were caught testing their own products the girls had to find someone willing to test their products for them. It took approaching the Rangers to find a solution. In exchange for enough protection beads for the entire group, several of their no weight packs, and a large supply of all working potions the Rangers would willingly test all their new creations and give both girls a bit of survival training and fighting basics. 

It turned out to be a very beneficial exchange on both sides. The girls were able to develop over 10 potions and salves that ranged from healing small cuts and bruises within minutes, to mending broken bones in days, to very potent antidotes for most types of poisons, all of which the Rangers were extremely grateful for. And while a few of the Rangers did have negative reactions to some of their tests, Hari was able to heal all of them before anything permanently harmful happened. 

Their survival training led them to finding some plants and herbs that they had been unable to find previously and the Rangers even gifted them with short swords, or long daggers depending on who was holding them, as they both showed admirable skill for just learning. They introduced them to archery and even a few hand to hand combat skills that would work while fighting a larger enemy. 

All of their testing was done over several years due to the Rangers patrol route making them only available for a few weeks every few months. Over those years the Rangers also taught the girls a hand language they had developed after observing the dwarves communicate in Iglishmék. They took to using this to converse when trying to hide something from their parents. Hari had noticed both their parents had started picking up on their Green Language, what they had decided to call the language from Hari’s books, and didn’t want them to pick up on all of their plans, particularly their training to fight from the Rangers. She knew her father would object to her plans, especially when he learned the whole of them. But she just knew she had to learn these things and more if she was ever going to be ready for whatever was coming.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating twice today. Don’t forget to check out the previous chapter.

When Lord Elrond first learned of Hari coming to Belladonna and her husband, he knew she would be different from the other hobbits, possibly even rejected by them, so he offered to let them all come live in Rivendell. He was emphatically turned down. Bingo was determined to make the shire see what a blessing Hari was and if his ulterior motive was to not travel, ever, well all the more reason to make the others see things his way. Belladonna wanted to give Hari a chance to grow up like any other hobbit and was with her husband on making the shire see reason. As much as Belladonna loved the elves and was very grateful for their offer, she knew they would never feel normal in their presence. 

When Lord Elrond learned of Belladonna’s second child and how she was able to come about, he offered to take Hari in and train her in healing magic personally. Again he was turned down. She was too young to become an apprentice and be so far away from all her family and friends. Also Hari would be the only one able to help Belle who was already showing sings of her own magic. Gandalf wasn’t able to come as often so it would be up to Hari to teach Belle to control her magic.

The third time Lord Elrond contacted the Baggins’ about Hari coming to him was on request of the girl in question. Hari had written to him asking to train under his guidance in healing and if possible learn all she could of the other Elves skills, including but not limited to fighting. She would not be able to leave until after she reached her majority in years time. 

She asked when he wrote to her parents about the apprenticeship to please imply that she wouldn’t be learning more than healing. She was working on convincing her father she would be unable to progress in her healing without traveling to Rivendell, a truth she readily acknowledged, but if her father thought she was going for any other reason, she feared he would forbid her from going at all.

If they could convince him that she was going to improve her healing and language skills she was sure she and her mother could convince him to let her go without too much fuss.

And so Lord Elrond wrote his final offer of apprenticeship to teach Hari healing. It would begin the year after she reached her majority. He would send an escort to retrieve her from the shire and they would accompany her return 3 years hence. Knowing that with that offer, he would finally met Yavanna’s blessing to Belladonna and possibly the savior for all of Middle Earth if his visions were correct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m making hobbits reach majority at age 32, about 18 1/2 years old. So she’s going to Rivendell the year she turns 33 or 19 incase anyone was confused by that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been working on getting different voices tones for my characters, trying to find that innner voice. Not quiet brave enough to try dialog yet. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy.

The spring Hari turned 33 was filled with preparations for her trip. All of the Baggins were thrilled (to an extent for Bungo) for Hari to being her apprenticeship, but they were also heartsick about it too. Bungo was particularly upset about his oldest daughter leaving. He had fought against them leaving the shire from the very beginning and continued to do so every time it was brought up. Propriety and his Baggins disposition forbid it. Besides everyone knew the world outside the shire was dangerous. He didn’t want any of his family out there. Not if he could help it. So it took the combination of guilt, threats, and insistence that this trip was necessary on convince Bungo to let Hari go. 

Belle for her part was more heartbroken then she let on. Never had Hari been gone for so long as she was about to be. The few day trips she had taken had been hard enough. But now her sister would be gone for at least 3 years. It was almost too much to bear. Only the promise of weekly letters, full of what Lord Elrond was teaching, any new magical techniques Hari learned, and all of the fighting tips she could pick up, kept Belle from from breaking down and begging her to stay. 

——————————————

It was finally happening. She was leaving. Her escort had arrived last night and they were heading out at first light. She’d had her bag packed for months now but checked it again just in case. While her training with the Rangers had her feeling more confident about the journey, she was about to go further from home than she ever had before. This would be her first time away from family (because practically everyone in the shire was related to everyone else at least distantly). But now she would be leaving them. It would just be her. And wasn’t that a terrifying thought. She was going to miss her them all so much. 

It physically hurt to leave Belle and her parents but she had to go. There was something calling her, telling her she was needed elsewhere. She had felt the stirrings of this call the first time her mother had told her about visiting the elves. How they could do so much. How they had saved her life many times. From that moment Hari just knew she needed to find them. Maybe they train her, help her become more then just a hobbit. So that some day she would be able to do... something. She had no idea what, just that she had to be prepared.

Helping Belle learn her magic had quelled that need inside her for a time. But Belle had advanced enough that she didn’t need Hari much anymore. And the need to learn and prepare had come back tenfold. That’s why she had approached the Rangers about training them. And why she had written Lord Elrond. She knew the elves had knowledge that they were willing to share and she was finally going to get it. Starting tomorrow Hari was going to start working towards that something. And she couldn’t wait.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A summary of what Hari learned in Rivendell. I cut out a lot of the more in-depth ideas I had about what Hari was actually doing, opting to not write myself into a corner, hopefully. I also posted another chapter earlier so don’t forget to go back and read it.

The next three years passed both too quickly and not nearly fast enough. True to her word, Hari sent a letter every week, sometimes more than one. She told the whole family about how she was able to learn many new crafts when she wasn’t studying healing with Lord Elrond. Those crafts included weaving, carving, and leather work. In her letters to Belle, written in their Green Language, Hari went into greater detail of how her magic interacted with her new skills, and how learning those skills helped her gain better control and understanding of her magic. She also learned early on that certain metals could hold magic, just like certain types of wood, and some were able to enhance the magic put into it. Silver would double the power of the enchantment making it that much stronger. Gold would extend the reach of the enchantment meaning you could use less but do more. Methril could do both. She had been allowed to test a bit with each metal, making a set of protection beads out of each kind and testing them with the help of the elves. It turned out that they were very interested in the different ways she could use and share her magic. Even Lord Elrond was impressed with the beads and had commissioned enough for all of his people to have a set of methril beads. There had been enough methril left over to make almost 30 extra beads that Lord Elrond have given to her in payment for making them. 

The Elves had also provided her with a new type of wood that held her magic even better than methril. Unfortunately this type of wood was even more rare then that precious metal. The elves had given her several pieces to test with her magic with. They also gave her with one large chunk that she planned to turn into a shield strong enough to absorb even a tolls blow, though that project would have to wait until after her apprenticeship since it would take years to complete.

Belle was disappointed when Hari said they never would have been able to make the invisibility cloak from anything available in the shire. With her knew knowledge of weaving they could make the infinite bag from what was there but they would have to make it completely from scratch. She went on to explain that weaving was like using their magic. Currently their magic was like a large length of rope, very strong but not good for intricate work. To make something as delicate as the cloak they would need to refine their magic down to the size of a thread without loosing it’s strength. She was learning to do this with her healing but was struggling to translate it over to weaving, especially with the elven silk she was currently working with. Hari wasn’t going to give up yet but it was going to take time to get it exactly right which she didn’t have a lot of in Rivendale. But she was sure with Belle’s help they could finally finish their cloaks and bags when she got home. 

Of course all the healing techniques and understanding of the healing art was shared. Belle had actually used that knowledge for her own projects. Knowing how different types of bodies worked allowed her to adjust her recipient accordingly. Her salves became stronger, her medicines were better, and her antidotes worked for a wider variety of poisons. She was even able to develop a potion that would replenish blood loss. Belle knew she would never be able to heal like Hari could, but she could help almost as much.

The fighting diagrams Hari sent weren’t as helpful as a practical lesson would be. While Hair’s mastery of languages was unmatched by anyone in the shire, she couldn’t draw to save her life. And simply reading about how to fight wasn’t enough for Belle to progress more then learning a few helpful tips like recognizing weak spots in armor and knowing where to cut an enemy to stop them. But knowing where wasn’t enough if she couldn’t understand how. It was just another thing she would have to wait for Hari to come home and show her, and hope that next time Hari left, she would get to go too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m almost done but I’m thinking the last chapter may end up split into 2 parts. There’s a lot there and depending on how angstsy I'm feeling will affect how much I'm gonna include. Also how angstsy do you all want this to be, because it got really bad for my first draft. On a good note I’ve gotten inspiration for the next part of this story finally so hopefully it wont be too long between me finishing posting this and starting to post the next bit.


	10. Chapter 10

All Belle’s plans for forcing Hari to teach her everything as soon as she got back to Bag End fell by the wayside when the normal spring rains didn’t come. Most of the Shire folk were working together to save as much of the crops they could. Belle was out there with them everyday helping nurture the suffering plants. By the time Hari had returned it was obvious that it was going to be a very hard year. Several fields had already died and the ones that have survived only did because of everyone volunteering to help water and tend them.

Poor Hari who was already looking worse for wear. Apparently her apprenticeship took more out of her then her letters let on. Her beautiful long hair was gone, only a few inches remained. If not for the dress she could have passed for a male. She said she had an accident with a candle and it couldn’t be saved, but the lack of eye contact and sideways looks she gave them all said that wasn’t the complete truth but all she was willing to share at the moment. In her letter to Belle, she had mentioned going out on patrols with Elves and the Rangers several times over the years. Something must have happened on one of them. There were also several scars on her arms and legs that weren’t there before. She was thinner then any hobbit had any right to be. And the dark bags under her eyes told just how tired she was. 

But being who she was, a Baggins and a Took, Hari dived right in to help the shire. She put up protections around the fields to help protect them from pests and animals. And everyday after she was out there helping water the fields with everyone else. Belle would be worried if she herself wasn’t so exhausted from trying to helping in the fields herself. Using her magic to keep the fields alive was draining her. She was almost fighting with the land to keep the growing things alive. 

It ended up being a long rough summer. Over half of the saved crops were lost to an early frost which brought on an early and very cold winter. Cold enough to freeze the Brandywine river. 

The cold was getting overwhelming. Even though Belle and Hari were beyond exhausted at this point they couldn’t sit back and let their friends and family freeze to death so together they started working together and making heating stones by carving a heating rune into a large smooth stone. Hari also found a spell that made a little blue flame that didn’t need fuel, never died, and could be kept in a jar as needed. These seemed to help but was surely becomeing a trend for the year, they had fixed one problem only for another one to come up.

Not too long after the river froze hobbits started to disappear after dark. When they found the missing Bracegirdle girls torn in half with large wolf tracks all around they knew they were in trouble. They holed up in their smials and no one was allowed to go out after dark. Everyone had hoped that would be enough and it was until they found one of the Bloger smials broken into. After that Hari started traveling from smial to smial carving protection runes into the doors. It was this last push that almost sealed her fate. 

She was headed home to Bag End, having pushed herself as far as she could. She had carved at least one home in every town in the shire. Everyone had come together for warmth and to pool resources so less places needed immediate protection. Unfortunately even with that people were still starving and being attacked. Seeing them like that caused Hari to push herself too close to magical exhaustion, unable to stomach the thought of not doing everything she could to save them. So she collapsed about a mile from Bag End less then an hour before dark. 

She might have died that night if she hadn’t sent word ahead that she was on her way home. After thanking the runner and keeping careful watch of the days, Belladonna and Belle grabbed a couple of kitchen knives and went out to meet Hari on her way. When they didn’t come upon her at the half way point they kept going until they found her collapsed and unconscious in the middle of the path just as a howl sounded nearby, too close for comfort. Quickly they gathered Hari up and tried to run as quickly as they could back to Bag End. They didn’t make it before the wolves were upon them. 

They had laid Hari between them with their backs towards each other keeping an eye on the three wolves that were drawing ever closer. Belle was trying not to let her fears overwhelm her. Hari would have been able to protect them but she was unconscious and possibly dying. She didn’t want to loose her sister. Not after just getting her back. 

She was trembling when the wolves made their move. One swiped at her and while she was able to block it from tearing off her face, it caught her side. Apparently their beads could only stop so much. She somehow was able to almost slice of its leg before it could get away. Belladonna was slashing and cutting anything that got close. Suddenly she had an opening and killed one of the wolves. With the other limited on it’s movements she yelled for Belle to grab Hari and run while she got the final wolf to focus completely on herself. And so gripping her bleeding side with one hand, the other grabbing Hari’s arm Belle started to try and heft her up. She only made it a few steps before her mother cried out in pain as a terrible crunching sound reached her ears, then there was an awful cry of a dying animal. A few more steps and then Belladonna was helping lift and carry Hari back to Bag End bleeding the whole way.

Things didn’t seem to improve from there. They were attacked by a lone wolf just outside of Bag End and were only saved because their father ran out screaming bloody murder after it had latched on and crushed Belladonna’s leg. Bungo was the one to pick up Belle’s kitchen knife and slay the beast, driving it straight through the beasts heart. It became obvious that Belladonna’s leg couldn’t be saved, even with all Belle’s potions. Then her own wound got infected and without any more herbs to make potions to fight it she had to fight it herself and was out for over a week. And through it all Hari wouldn’t wake no matter what was given to her. They all despaired that they would loose her. Unfortunately they should have been more worried about Belladonna. The week Hari woke Belladonna’s arm became infected and it was spreading to her heart. Hari was so weak but she could tell as soon as she saw her mother that Belladonna wasn’t going to survive this winter. 

She tried to comfort her daughter. Letting her know she didn’t blame her one bit for this. That she would do anything to save her little blessing. That she and her sister were meant for bigger things and needed to keep going even after she left them.

They lost their father to a fast moving sickness that ripped through the shire without any warning later that spring He was one of the first loses before the girls were able to create a potion that would help. He was only able to let them know he loved them and was happy to join his heart again before succumbing to the sickness. 

They would never fully recover from the losses of the Fell Winter as it came to be called. Their losses were too great.

Those first two years after were the absolute worst. Hari was nearly broken both in body and mind. She had completely exhausted herself both physically and magically, and it took a toll on her body. And the overwhelming sadness of losing most of ones family did nothing to aid in her recovery. She couldn’t walk unaided for almost 5 years. She never was able to regain all of that extra softness that all hobbits seemed to have, partially because of lack of appetite partially because she returned to her training which didn’t encourage any sort of softness, though she did start to gain some after about 8 years thanks to her sisters cooking. The only thing keeping her from succumbing to her grief was the need to finish their projects. So she began to practice her spinning and weaving so that when her magic had fully recovered she might be able to finally finish those bags and cloak like she had wanted to since returning from Rivendell. 

Belle lost a bit of her exuberance and innocence. Her desire for adventure was all but snuffed out. Adventures hurt you. They had almost killed her mother and sister. No, she would not go on adventure if she could help it. She would never admit how much giving that dream up hurt but if it meant that she could keep Hari and herself safe at home she would gladly deny that part of herself for the rest of her life. It would take 12 quiet (and frankly boring) years in the shire and a wondering wizard to change her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, the Prequal is finished. I’m going to be trying to get better with my writing. I know i’m terrible at it but i’ve really been enjoying getting this story out of my system.   
> I apologize for any spelling errors or grammatical awful writing. It’s just me here with very little reviewing being done and frankly all of my English classes (except for my creative writing class, thank you Mrs. Opplet) from middle school on where all taught by absolutely awful teachers who couldn’t seem to get my more math able mind to understand. So yay for that.   
> I don’t own anything and am just working with other peoples orginal ideas, twisting them and adding my own limited and sadly demented ideas.   
> I've been working on the next bit but trying to get more out of my writing. You’ll have to let me know if I’m successful.   
> Thanks so much for reading!!! You all are wonderful!


End file.
